Produced by Peter Chan (Dragon aka Wu Xia) and directed by Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs), The Guillotines originally began its life as a remake of the Jimmy Wang Yu classic Master of the Flying Guillotine. What we got instead after loads of production problems looks like something very different from that, and wonderfully so.

The Guillotines follows the titular team of badass imperial assassins who've never failed in 348 missions. Success has made them complacent. One of their own is endangered in a botched job, and they must regroup and fight to save him. The Guillotines must also deal with another agent sent by the emperor, who wants to end The Guillotines and replace outmoded blades with firearms.

This sounds like it could be a really good time. The Guillotines will be out in China in December. Given the pattern of US releases with some high-profile Chinese movies lately (e.g., The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Tai Chi 0, Painted Skin: The Resurrection), we might possibly see The Guillotines in American theaters some time in 2013. (No guarantees, of course.)

[Via Twitch]